Changing Channels S5
by Bad Day at Black Rock
Summary: The trickster creates a TV Land trap just waiting to be played in.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: These fics are based on real episodes from Supernatural. The characters and plots belong to the creator and writers for the show. If you want background on the OCs you can read the previous episodes.

Changing Channels

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot."

"Damn." Sam grumbled. He couldn't believe he'd actually fell for it; of course she'd throw paper. She'd watched him counter Dean's scissors a hundred times.

She grinned. "Because you always throw paper."

"Whatever. Have fun."

"I love you Sam…" She cooed endearingly.

He couldn't stop the smile before it appeared and he didn't have to look to see if Dean was watching them; he knew he was.

But Dean was smiling too. Kayla didn't guard her affection about Sam anymore and it was great, because her affection had changed. She had subconsciously moved him into a big brother position. Sam may be a psychological train wreck, but Kayla seemed to go for that and embrace it with open arms. Dean was just glad to have the anxiety lifted. He patted his brother on the shoulder on his way out.

"Enjoy that computer Princess."

In Wellington, Ohio a local man was chased through the woods, into his house and up the stairs to his bedroom where he was mauled to death. The authorities said bear; that was one pissed off bear. Dean managed to get them an interview with the victim's wife.

Kayla offered an outstretched hand with a grim expression. "Mrs. Randolph, we're so sorry for your loss."

"Thank you." She lightly shook her hand and put on a neutral face. The police had already asked her every question imaginable.

"We want to do everything we can to find out what happened to your husband. Can you tell us what you saw?"

"You didn't talk with the sheriff?"

"We did." Dean smiled. "I'd just like to hear it from you. What attacked your husband?"

Her eyes darted a moment, unsure of herself and her answer. "It was a bear. It had to be, I mean, what else could it have been?"

"What did you think it was?" He encouraged.

She paused. "No, I remember clearly now. It was definitely a bear."

"I know." Kayla nodded. "But first impressions are very important for us, to put together the crime scene. Could you tell us what you thought it was, before you realized it was a bear?"

She sighed quietly and looked a little embarrassed. "Well, it's impossible, but I, I could have sworn I saw the Incredible Hulk."

"Banner or Norton?" Dean followed up.

"Oh no, those movies were terrible. The TV Hulk."

"Lou Forrigno."

"Yes."

"Spiky hair Lou Forrigno."

"Yes."

"Epic." Kayla muttered.

Dean smirked but kept his line of questioning. "Would there be any reason that Lou Forrigno, or the Incredible Hulk, would have a grudge against your husband?" It wasn't the strangest thing he'd had to ask.

She looked confused. "No…"

"Of course not." Kayla said. "Mrs. Randolph, thank you so much for your time."

They excused themselves and headed for the car.

"The Incredible Hulk."

"I hope not." Kayla laughed.

"Why?" He grinned. "You don't like him when he's angry?"

"You sure you don't like CSI? That sounded a lot like an end scene line."

He scoffed. "You know I hate that crap."


	2. Chapter 2

Sam got back to the room to find a familiar scene, Dean sat on the side of the bed, cleaning an arsenal of firearms while Kayla took care of the research. As far as walking into things, it definitely could have been worse. It _had_ been worse.

"Hey." Kayla smiled cheerfully at him. Apocalypse? What apocalypse? "Did you get into the house?"

"Yeah, I did. There's an eight foot wide hole where the front door used to be."

Dean raised an eyebrow while wiping down the handle of a pistol. "A hulk-sized hole?"

"Maybe. You guys find anything? And by you guys, I mean Kayla."

"Hey, I've been working very hard." Dean pointed out.

"I'm working on it. I'm pulling up his criminal record." She typed a little more quickly than usual.

"Just now?" He asked suspiciously.

"Well I…"

Dean cut in. "There were more pressing issues."

Again, ten minutes earlier, and it could have been worse. Leave it to Dean to be blunt. Kayla tried to keep his focus on the job. "He's got an impressive rap sheet. Bar fights, two counts of spousal battery, and court ordered anger management classes."

Dean lowered his voice. "You wouldn't like him when he's angry."

"So, a hot head getting killed by TV's greatest hot head. Kind of sounds like just desserts doesn't it?"

"You think?"

"Definitely. I found these at the crime scene." He pulled several crumpled up candy wrappers out of his pocket and set them on the table. "And there were lots more where that came from."

Dean looked at the wrappers and his face shifted slightly, they saw the anger set in. "We're dealing with a trickster."

"Seems like it."

"Good." He started putting the guns back in his bag. "I wanted to gank that mother since mystery spot."

Sam shrugged. "Are you sure you want to kill him?"

"Um, yeah, I'm sure. He iced me like a thousand times. If not kill him, what do you want to do with him?"

"I don't know, talk to him?"

"Talk to him. Sam, your lovey-dovey heal the world crap is really starting to grind on me."

"No no, nothing like that. He deserves it, I get it. But the trickster is one of the most powerful creatures we've ever met. Maybe we can use him."

Kayla was in agreement but didn't say anything for Dean's sake; she felt the same way about Dominic. They needed as many people on their side as they could get.

"Use him for what?"

"The trickster is like a Hugh Hefner type right? Wine, women, song, maybe he doesn't want the party to end. Maybe he hates this angels and demons thing as much as we do, maybe he'll help us."

"You're serious."

"Yeah."

"Ally with the trickster. A bloody, violent monster, and you want to be Facebook friends with him?" He looked to Kayla for backup. He could count on her for it now.

She offered a small smile. "We can take him, I'll hold him down while you stake him."

Sam grimaced. "It's worth a shot. If it doesn't work, we'll kill him."

He resigned himself to Sam's plan, but he still didn't like it. "That's better."

Unfortunately with tricksters, there wasn't a way to track them. All they could really do was sit around and wait for the next police report. Sam set up the scanner in the room and Dean started sharpening the stake, while Kayla kept an eye on the local police system for new reports. It wasn't the most exciting part of the job.

Half an hour into it Sam was already bored out of his mind and he wondered when he'd gotten so eager to do this. It didn't seem that long ago that he was chomping at the bit to get away from all this. He glanced over his shoulder just in time to see Dean give Kayla that smirk; the one that still brought color to her cheeks after all this time. Sam tried to muster up his usual amusement, but he couldn't. It was so strange to him how everything had turned around. Sam was the one with the dreams of a normal life, he wanted to be everything his father wasn't and Dean beat him to it. How could Dean have all of John's strengths and none of his weaknesses?

"Sammy, you listening to this?"

He realized Dean was looking at him expectedly and turned towards the radio.

"_I don't even know how to describe what I'm seeing. Just send everybody."_

"A crime scene they can't describe would describe our trickster." Kayla grabbed her shoes.

"You with us?"

"Yeah." Sam nodded. "Let's go."


	3. Chapter 3

The address took them to a run down warehouse that looked to be abandoned for years. There were no other cars there, there wasn't anything there.

"There's a murder here. There's a murder, and there's no police, nothing." Dean opened the trunk of the Impala. "How does that look to you?"

"Crappy." Sam agreed.

Dean gave each of them a flashlight and a stake and they quickly made their way through the nearest door. When they stepped through they had expected a dark warehouse, or an ambush, or maybe both. They hadn't expected…a pristine hospital.

Their weapons were gone. Their clothing had been replaced; Dean and Sam were wearing doctor's coats while Kayla sported nurse's scrubs. All three had ID tags with their pictures and names. Two young women, also in scrubs, passed them on their way down the hall.

"Doctor."

"Doctor."

They both looked at the brothers suggestively as they passed.

"Doctor?" Sam reached back and opened the door they came in, but it wasn't the outside. It was a storage closet where two hospital employees were making out. He closed the door.

Kayla pulled at her scrubs. "I'm so confused."

They headed down the hall, where another woman came directly up to Sam.

"Doctor." Then she slapped the crap out of him.

"Ow!" Sam groaned and adjusted his neck back into place. Damn.

"Seriously?" She asked expectantly.

"What?"

"Seriously? You're brilliant, you know that? And a coward. You're a brilliant coward."

"What are you talking about?"

She nailed him again. "As if you don't know."

He watched her stormed off, no better off than when she came.

"She totally wants you." Kayla pointed out. "You should follow her."

"I don't even know who she is!"

"So? Opportunities are opportunities Sam."

"I don't believe this. That's Doctor Picolo."

They both looked at him.

"Doctor Ellen Picolo. The sexy, yet earnest doctor, at…" He came to the main desk and motioned to sign on the wall. "Seattle Mercy Hospital."

"Dean, what are you talking about?"

"The doctor getups, the sexy interns, the…the seriously's. It all makes sense!"

Kayla exchanged a look with Sam. "Sweetheart, you need to bring it down to our level because we're totally lost."

"We're _in_ Doctor Sexy MD."

"Oh, yeah." She nodded. "It all makes…sense? What the hell Dean, how are we in a TV show?"

"I have no idea. Sam, theory. Anything."

They started looking for a way out. "Um…trickster trapped us in TV Land."

"That's your theory? That's stupid. There's no TV Land, there's actors and crew members…this looks real."

"It can't be. How can this be real?"

Dean started pointing out various characters from the show, describing their personalities and roles in the hospital.

Sam stared at him. "I thought you said you're not a fan."

"I'm not." He grimaced off his look of disbelief. "I'm not, Kayla is."

"Right, blame it on me. Because _I_ recognize any of this."

"It's him." Dean looked down the hall as a doctor approached him, his voice full of excitement. "It's him, it's Doctor Sexy."

"Hmm." Kayla gave him a once over. "Yes it is."

"Seriously."

She laughed.

The man stopped in front of them and nodded to Dean. "Doctor."

He fought back a smile. "Doctor."

He nodded to Sam. "Doctor."

With Dean's encouragement he rolled his eyes. "Doctor."

"Nurse." He looked to Kayla. "We still have a…meeting, in an hour. My office."

She raised an eyebrow. "I can be there in ten." Dean nudged her. "What? It's not real."

'Doctor Sexy' turned his attention back to Dean. "Do you want to give me one reason why you disobeyed my direct order to do the experimental face transplant on Mrs. Beal?"

"One reason?" He was practically giddy. "Sure." He glanced down and stopped his sight at his shoes, then slammed him up against the wall. "You're not Doctor Sexy."

"You're crazy."

"Really? 'Cause I swore that part of making Doctor Sexy 'sexy' is the fact that he wears cowboy boots."

"Who's the fan?"

"It's a guilty pleasure."

Suddenly everyone around them froze. 'Doctor Sexy' turned into their oh so favorite trickster with a grin.

"Get us the hell out of here." Dean threatened.

"Or what?" He placed a hand on his arm, seemingly effortlessly but Dean groaned and released him. "Don't see your big stakes now."

"That was you on the scanner wasn't it?" Sam asked. "This is a trick."

"Hello, trickster?" He smiled enthusiastically. "How could I resist messing with you guys?"

"What is this?"

"You like it? It's homemade. Let's just call it my own little idiot box."

"How do we get out?"

"That's the sixty four dollar question isn't it?"

"Whatever." Sam stopped the arguments before they got serious. "We want to talk to you, we need your help."

He seemed to anticipate this. "Let me guess. You broke the world, and you want me to sweep up your mess. Tell you what, you survive the next twenty four hours and we'll talk."

"Survive what?"

"The game!"

Dean sighed. "How do we play?"

"You're already playing." He set an arm around Kayla's shoulders. "Ready for that meeting?"

"Eh, you were hotter as Doctor Sexy."

He smirked. "Good luck guys." Then he was gone.

"I'll start watching that show with you."

Dean gave her a look and turned to Sam. "See what happens when we talk to monsters?"

"Yeah, I get it. So what do we do now?"

"I'm leaving."

Doctor Picolo showed up again and made a beeline for Sam, who held his hand up in defense. "Okay, lady, what the hell."

She glared at him. "You, are a brilliant, brilliant…"

"Yeah, a coward. You already said that. But I got news for you. I am _not_ a doctor."

She gasped. It really was like sitting in the middle of a soap opera. "Don't you say that. You are the finest cerebral-vascular neurosurgeon that I have ever met, and I have met plenty. So that girl died on your table. It wasn't your fault, it wasn't anybody's fault. Sometimes people just die."

Kayla nodded very seriously. "I tried to tell him that."

Dean threw his hands up; she was having way too much fun with this.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Look, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You're afraid. You're afraid to operate again, and you're afraid to love." She rushed tearfully down the hall.

"Aw, that was touching. This is another of those opportunities I was telling you about." She saw their looks and sighed quietly. "Guys, lighten up. Really. We're stuck here right now and there's not much else we can do about it."

Further down the hall a man stepped out to Dean. "Doctor."

He sighed. "Yes."

"My wife needs that face transplant."

"Okay." He answered, he was beyond over this. "Pal, none of this is real and your wife doesn't need jack squat. Okay?" He started back down the hall.

"Doctor."

He heard the voice behind him but didn't answer, by the time he heard the gunshot it was too late. Pain shot up his spine and his legs went numb before he hit his knees. They turned to see the man running towards the exit with a gun in his hand.

"Real, it's real." Dean gasped.

"Lay down and be still." Kayla was already pulling his coat off.

"No no no…we need a doctor!"

"You _are_ the doctor here you idiot, don't you get it? This _is_ real to them!"

"You've gotta be shitting me."


	4. Chapter 4

Kayla paced the viewing room behind 'Doctor Picolo' as Sam attempted surgery on his brother. He was shot in the back; he'd never had to deal with removing a bullet like that before. It was so close to the spine, if he were to slip up…

"Don't worry." Picolo smiled reassuringly. He's the finest cerebral-vascular neurosurgeon I've ever met. He just needs…"

"Please shut up." Her eyes were stuck on the table; Sam looked terrified.

"Ironic, isn't it? After all our disagreements, here we are fighting for the same cause. The man I love, saving the man you love."

She tried to give her one of those looks that usually shut people up; the kind that told her she was about to get punched in the face.

"Don't worry," she nodded. "I won't tell anyone you're seeing each other."

"Thanks." She muttered.

In the operating room, Dean was still in pain and getting impatient for Sam to grow a pair. "Figure it out man, _do _something."

"Okay, okay. I um, I need a pen knife, some dental floss, a sewing needle and fifth of whiskey." The surrounding staff just stared at him. "Stat!" He ordered and they all went about gathering the supplies he had asked for.

He tried to convince himself he knew what he was doing. It wasn't the first time he'd pulled a bullet out of someone and he just had to treat it like any other gunshot wound. After some time of cutting and dabbing, the bullet was out and he was able to stitch the wound.

"How you doing Sammy? How's it look?" Dean asked.

"You're gonna be okay." He glanced to the viewing window and nodded to Kayla, and saw Doctor Picolo mouthing 'I love you' to him. She pressed her hand to the glass. He couldn't believe Dean watched this crap.

Suddenly they weren't in the hospital and they weren't in scrubs. They were on some kind of game show. Dean looked down to see his feet strapped into some sort of device and he couldn't move. Sam was next to him in the same predicament. The doors opened behind them and the host of the show came out, speaking Japanese until they recognized him saying _'Let's play Nutcracker!'_

They exchanged a look when they realized there was a large ball, attached to a pole, that once launched would raise right about crotch level. Damn.

"Where's Kayla?" Sam looked behind them and saw Kayla standing in some sort of glass box, pounding the hell out of it to no avail. She wouldn't be able to help them.

The host approached him. "Sam Winchester." But the question he asked was in Japanese and he didn't understand a word of it.

"What's he saying?"

"I don't know!" Dean was just as lost as he was.

"I um, I don't understand Japanese!"

The host came over and repeated the question.

"Is he screwing with me? I can't speak Japanese!"

The timer ran out. "I'm sorry Sam Winchester."

"Sorry?" The lever shot up and nailed Sam between the legs. Had his feet not been strapped in, he would have hit the ground but all he could do was double over.

Dean couldn't almost feel the pain. "Sam?"

"Yeah!" He groaned, hardly able to speak.

There was a pounding on the doors behind them and Cas walked through.

"Cas!" Dean was sure as hell glad to see him.

He looked at them strapped on the stands. "Uh…what are you doing here?"

It seemed an odd question. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"Looking for you, you've been missing for days."

Sam was desperate to get out of the restraints. "Then get us the hell out of here!"

"Let's go." He reached out for them but it was Cas who disappeared, by himself. Shit.

"No no no." The host came up to them again. "Mister Trickster doesn't like pretty boy angels." He pulled a card out of his pocket. "Dean Winchester." But again, the question was in Japanese.

Dean was desperate now. "Sam what do I do? I don't want to get hit in the nuts!"

"Wait, I played a doctor."

"What?"

"In Doctor Sexy, I played the roll the trickster wanted me to play in the game. Maybe we should just go along with it!"

"With what?" He yelled, the timer was running out.

"The game! You're on a game show, just answer the question!"

"In Japanese?"

"Yes!"

"I don't know Japanese!"

"Try!"

"Damn it." He pressed his buzzer and everything went quiet, waiting for him. "Um…" Ah what the hell, he could speak Japanese right? How hard could it be? "_I think the answer is…yes?"_ And above all reason, it came out in Japanese.

"Dean Winchester…" The host started. "Nutcracker Champion!" He yelled and everyone went crazy. Thank God.


	5. Chapter 5

Dean was looking into a refrigerator and he had no idea why. He closed the door and turned around to find himself in the kitchen of a stage house. The décor was horrendous and it was complete with a live audience. Wonderful. On the table in front of him was a very large sandwich which was two feet tall, at least. To the side of the stage was a prompter screen with their lines.

"I'm gonna need a bigger mouth." The audience laughed. The 'front' door opened and Sam came in, causing an uproar in the audience. "Hey Sam, what's happening?"

"Oh, nothing. Just the end of the world…" He was going for over acting and looked at the sandwich. "You're gonna need a bigger mouth."

Kayla was in the room next to them, which was literally just four blank walls and a door to the stage. She was dressed in barely-there lingerie and there was not one damn thing in that room to cover up in. The only thing she saw was a light near the top of one of the fake walls with a small sign reading _cue._

Sam glanced around but once again saw nothing that would suggest a way out. They'd just have to keep playing. "Hey, have you done your research yet?"

"Um, research. Yeah! All kinds of research, all night."

"Really?"

Kayla stared at the cue light as it blinked. There was no way.

Sam repeated his line, waiting.

"Not happening." Kayla called out.

"You have to, play your role."

She opened the door a crack and peered out. "This is not appropriate for television." Or Sam for that matter.

Dean smirked, curious now. "Well we're not actually on television so come on."

She wiped the stubborn pout from her face and stepped just barely outside the door. Her line was next. "Oh Dean…time to do more research."

He grinned, but at the same time he shed his jacket and wrapped it around her. He said it once and he'll say it again; the man has taste.

"Dean." Sam had to force himself to keep his eyes on his brother and not the nearly-naked Kayla. The jacket helped.

Dean looked at the audience. "Son of a bitch."

"Kayla get some clothes on, we have work to do."

"But we did do work…"

"Kayla." Sam repeated, more for his sake. "Get dressed."

She quickly retreated back into the room; now there was a change of clothes waiting on the floor. "You're an ass." She muttered, though she had no idea if the trickster was watching them.

"How long do we have to keep doing this?" Dean asked him.

"I don't know," he answered, still smiling. "Maybe forever? We might die in here."

The audience laughed again. "How is that funny?"

Kayla joined them again, fully dressed just as Cas was coming through the door. "Cas are you okay?" He looked beat to hell.

"I don't have much time."

"What happened?" Dean asked.

"I got out. Listen to me, this thing is much more powerful than it should be."

"What thing, the trickster?"

"If it is a trickster."

He furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"

Suddenly Cas was flung against the wall. When he turned around there was a strip of tape over his mouth and the trickster walked in; of course he got a standing ovation from the audience.

"Hey everybody, thank you. Hey!" He looked to Cas. "Hey Castiel!" He looked urgently to the group but the trickster flicked his hand and he was gone.

"Where did you send him?" Dean demanded.

"Don't worry, he'll live. Maybe."

"Okay you know what? I'm done with the monkey dance. We get it. Play our roles."

"That's only half the game. You're supposed to play your roles _out there._"

Kayla grimaced. "Michael and Lucifer."

"Ding ding ding! Hottie with the sexy lingerie underneath is a winner! Celebrity death match you guys, let's do it."

Sam had him pegged all wrong. "You want us to say yes to those sons of bitches? If we do that, the world will end."

"Yeah? And whose fault is that? Who popped Lucifer out of the box?" Sam didn't answer him. "Hottie?"

Kayla folder her arms in front of her. "Irrelevant."

"It's _not_ irrelevant. You started this, and it can't be stopped. Let's just get this over with."

Something wasn't adding up in Dean's mind. This was all wrong. "Heaven or hell, which side are you on?"

"I'm not on either side."

"Yeah right, you're grabbing for one them, which is it?"

His expression turned to anger. "I'm not working for either of those arrogant assholes. Trust me."

"Oh you're somebody's bitch."

The trickster grabbed him and slammed him against the wall. "Don't you _ever_ presume to know what I am. Now listen closely. You are gonna suck it up, take responsibility and play the roles that destiny has chosen for you."

Sam grimaced. "And if we don't?"

"Then you'll stay in TV land forever. Three hundred channels and nothing's on."


	6. Chapter 6

Sam and Dean stood in front of a barrier of crime scene tape while a dozen cops milled around the area. It was dark, but they were both wearing sunglasses with their suits.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Dean groaned against his grit teeth. He hated this stupid game.

A man approached them and ducked under the tape. "So, what do you think?"

"What do I think? Go screw yourself that's what I think."

"Could you excuse us for a minute?" Sam pulled him away. "You need to calm down."

"Calm down? I'm wearing sunglasses at night." He jerked them off in disgust, knowing he was in one of those stupid procedural crime scene shows. "Where's Kayla?"

"I'm sure she's fine. Check out sweet tooth." He motioned back to the scene.

Dean looked over at the man who had spoken to them. He was now examining a body on the ground, while sucking on a sucker. Strange police behavior for sure. "You think that's him? Seems kind of obvious."

"The trickster probably wants us to think it's him, but it'll weed him out at least."

They walked over to where the action was, fully prepared to 'play their roles'. Dean even put the damn glasses back on.

"You okay?" The guy looked up at him.

"Yeah." He answered in a smoky, sexy investigator voice. "What've we got?" Dean finally looked down at the body. "Kayla."

"You knew the vic?" The cop continued.

"Shut the hell up. Kayla get up." But she didn't; she didn't move and when his fingers grazed her neck there wasn't a pulse. He didn't like this. Real or not she was on the ground covered in blood and this episode wasn't happening.

"It's just a show dude, she's fine. She'll be back in the next one."

"But what's happened to us is _real._ Wake her up." He was talking to the cop now.

"Dean." Sam encouraged him to keep quiet. They just had to play along.

"No." He demanded. In his mind he saw Kayla after Alistair had gotten hold of her, torn to pieces, taking her last breath. "This isn't funny. Wake her the hell up."

"Detective, she…"

"This isn't a game!" He grabbed the guy and threw him against the tree.

"What's your problem?"

Dean drove the stake into him and he went down quickly and quietly. It was too easy. From behind them, another man laughed.

"You got the wrong guy idiots."

"Did we?"

As he changed back into the trickster, Sam got him from behind with the stake. This time the death was slower, he put up more of a fight than the cop. The trickster hit his knees and fell to the ground. Suddenly TV land was gone and they were back in the warehouse.

"Shit." He'd been hoping Kayla's motionless body would just wake up, instead, it was gone.

"No, it's good." Sam insisted. "What means it wasn't her at the crime scene. It was just a prop he created."

"Then where is she?"

"Maybe he put her with Cas." They exchanged a look, both of them remembered at the same time how Cas was beat to hell when he'd found them. "That probably didn't help huh?"

He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. "It's fine. Cas got out the first time, if they're together, he'll get both of them out. He won't let anything happen to her."

"Even if they're not man, I mean, she can take care of herself."

"Yeah." Dean unwillingly agreed. He forgot that sometimes.


	7. Chapter 7

The small convenience store was quiet for what time it was, but judging by the dust on the shelves it had been that way for awhile. Kayla cautiously crept along the aisles but didn't see or hear anything. It could easily be a set up, and if it was she'd at least like to know what she was up against. Just as she drew a breath to call out, a hand went over her mouth.

"You don't want to draw attention."

She smiled as he took his hand down. "Cas." Once she got a look at him it turned into a frown. "What happened? Are you okay?"

He tilted his head, then wiped some of the blood off his brow. "You shouldn't be here. It was difficult to get out the first time and now the numbers have tripled. With you here…"

"You'll have back up. Right? I'm sure that's what you were going to say."

"Actually I was going to say it'll be nearly impossible to protect you given the circumstances."

"Right." She rolled her eyes. "So what _are_ the circumstances?"

"Demons, and a lot of them."

"So why don't we just zap out of here?"

"I can't, I've tried. There seems to be some sort of barrier. If it's like the first time, if I can get through the demons to the edge of town, I can use my powers again.

She nodded. "So, that's what's been kicking your ass all day? Demons?" Before he could give her a serious answer, she smirked and started pulling salt off the shelves. "I'm glad I'm here then, because anyone who screws with my angel, is screwing with me."

He watched her for a moment before he realized he had no idea of what to say to that. "There's too many of them for what you're trying to do."

"Relax. I hunt with the Winchesters." As quickly as she could she started mixing up salt water to soak her knife in, since they had been disarmed of the rest of their weapons. At least it was more than she had in TV land. "Demons I can do, if I can't kill them I can at least slow them down long enough for you to." She reached into her bra and found with relief what she was looking for; her rosary. The trickster gave her that much. Holy salt water, _that_ should slow them down.

"You don't seem to realize how many demons we're talking about." Her determined expression didn't change and he sighed as she replaced her dagger at her side. "Right, let's go." As they left the store and headed down the street, he turned and gave her one of those looks she always got from Dean. "Don't fall behind."

"Cas."

"Please, just…"

She sidestepped him and drove her dagger into a demon's neck. As it hissed in pain, Cas grabbed it and the demon seeped from the body.

"Thank you."

"I got your back."

He nodded, more confidently this time. "Follow me."

They walked through the town and were never approached by more than two or three demons at time. Watching Cas was actually fascinating up close. When Dean fought demons it was like unleashing a fury, but Cas never tensed. Every move was easy and automatic, every perfectly placed blow showed centuries of training. He was an incredible fighter.

Suddenly Castiel's arm went out and snagged her, pulling her behind him as he stopped. She saw the cause for the block; demons were waiting at the intersection, and lots of them.

"Good thing you hunt with the Winchesters."

"Oh now you've got jokes."

"How would you go about getting through forty three demons?"

"One at a time preferably."

"I don't think we're going to have that option."


	8. Chapter 8

"I'm worried man." Dean wiped the water from his face and stared at the mirror; the darkness under his eyes was definitely worse than usual. He slept like crap the night before. "Where'd that SOB send Cas and Kayla?" He turned towards the living room but Sam wasn't there. He'd been there a second ago. "Sam?"

Sam had definitely left the room already. Dean gathered his things and went to the car, he tried calling his cell phone but got the voice mail. With a grimace he started the car.

"Dean?"

He looked in the back seat and saw nothing. "Sam? Where are you?"

"I don't know."

The voice came from the radio and he looked down. A small meter of lights strobed up and down as Sam spoke. "Oh crap. I don't think we killed the trickster."

Sam was in the car, hell, Sam _was_ the car. His poor Impala.

The pieces fell together fast enough after that. Cas had told them this thing was too powerful to be a trickster and it sure as hell was right in the middle of the heaven and hell war. There was really only one thing left to do.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Sam's voice drifted from the Impala as Dean closed the trunk.

"No, but I don't know what else to do." He looked up. "Alright you son of a bitch! We'll do it!"

"Should I honk?"

The 'trickster' walked up to them and looked the car over with a smile. "Wow, Sam, look at the rims on you."

"Eat me."

"Okay boys, ready to go quietly?"

"Not so fast. No one's going anywhere until Sam has opposable thumbs."

"What's the difference? Satan's gonna ride his ass one way or another." But he saw that it wasn't negotiable and snapped his fingers. Sam climbed out of the passenger seat. "Happy?"

Dean glanced back. "Just tell me one thing. Why didn't the stake kill you?"

He hesitated. "I am the trickster."

"But maybe you're not."

Sam dropped his lighter onto the ground and the circle of oil lifted around him.

"Maybe you've always been an angel."

He laughed, like he was insulted. "A what? Somebody slip a mickey into your power shake kid?"

"I tell you what. You just jump out of the holy fire and we'll call it our mistake."

He laughed again but it slowed to a surrendering expression. The outdoors around them was gone and replaced with the warehouse they had walked into God knows how long ago.

"Well played boys, well played. Where'd you get the holy oil?"

"Well you might say we pulled it out of Sam's ass."

"Where'd I screw up?"

"You didn't." Sam answered. "Nobody gets the jump on Cas like you did."

"Mostly it was the way you talked about Armageddon. Call it personal experience, but nobody gets that angry unless they're talking about their own family."

"So which one are you? Grumpy, sneezey, or douchey?"

He looked at Sam. "Gabriel, okay? They call me Gabriel."

"Gabriel, the archangel."

"Guilty."

"Okay Gabriel, how does an archangel get to be a trickster?"

He shrugged. "My own personal witness protection. Skipped out of heaven, had a face transplant, carved out my own little corner of the world. Then you guys had to screw it up."

"And what did daddy say when you ran off and joined the pagans?"

"Daddy doesn't say anything about anything."

"Why'd you ditch?"

"Can you blame him? His brothers are heavenly douche nozzles." Dean pointed out.

"You shut your cake hole. You don't know anything about my family. I loved my father, my brothers, loved them. But watching them turn on each other, tear out each other's throats? I couldn't bear it! So I left, and now it's happening all over again."

"So help us stop it."

"It can't be stopped."

"You _want_ to see the end of the world?"

"I want it to be over! I have to sit back and watch my own brothers kill each other thanks to you two! Heaven, hell, I don't care who wins, I just want it to be over."

Sam didn't want to listen to it. There had to be a way out. "It doesn't have to be like that. There has to be some way to pull the plug."

"Oh you don't know my family. What you call the apocalypse, we call Sunday dinner. That's why there's no stopping this, because this isn't about a war. This is about two brothers that loved each other, and betrayed each other. You'd think you'd be able to relate."

"What are you talking about?"

He looked between them to confirm their confused faces and whistled while he shook his head. "You sorry sons of bitches. Why do you think you two are the vessels. Think about it. Michael, the big brother. Loyal to an absent father. An Lucifer, the little brother. Rebellious of daddy's plan. You were born to this boys, it's your destiny. It was always you!" He raised his hands to the sky. "As it is in heaven, so must it be on Earth. One brother has to kill the other."

"What the hell are you saying?"

"Why do you think I've always taken an interest in you? Because from the moment dad flipped on the lights around here, we knew it was always gonna end with you. Always."

But Dean refused as usual to accept any of the destiny crap. There was no such thing as destiny. "No, that's not gonna happen."

"I'm sorry, but it is." He sighed. "Guys, I wish this were a TV show. Easy answers, endings wrapped up in a bow, but this is real. And it's gonna end bloody for all of us. That's just how it's gotta be." His voice shifted. "So, boys, now what? Stare at each other for all eternity?"

"Well first of all, you're gonna bring Kayla and Cas back from wherever you stashed them."

He tilted his head, bargaining. "Will you settle? I'll give you the girl."

"We could always dunk you in holy oil and deep fry ourselves an archangel."

"That's just greedy." He snapped, and Cas and Kayla appeared behind them, looking beaten and exhausted.

Kayla caught her breath and wiped some of the blood off her chin. She smiled brightly. "Hey guys."

"Are you okay?"

"Oh yeah." She took a deep breath. "Great."

But Castiel was focused elsewhere. "Gabriel."

"Hey bro. How's the search for daddy going? Let me guess, horrible?"

"Hey shut the hell up." Kayla snapped, a little more defensive than intended.

Gabriel raised an amused eyebrow. "Cute Cas, but shouldn't you get something bigger than a Yorkie to bodyguard? Go for a Rott at least."

He didn't answer.

"Okay, we're done here." Dean backed up. "Come on Sam."

"Um, okay? Hey guys? So what, you're just gonna leave me here forever?"

Dean stopped at the door. "No, we're not. Because we don't screw with people the way you do. And for the record," he was pissed now. "This isn't about some prized fight between your brothers, or some stupid destiny that can't be stopped. This is about you being too afraid to stand up to your family!" He reached over and pulled the fire alarm, making the sprinklers turn on. "Don't say I never did anything for you."

_Authors Note: antariangirl93 I did this for you! I'm gonna try to finish off season 5 before season 6 starts. talk about a deadline!_


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